The bad part of being the guy who comes in the week between Christmas and New Years to keep the labs from burning down is all of other people’s work that you need to do. The good part is you can do it in the order and in the way that you want.
First alignment: Saturn-Sol-Luna. “A Great Ending.” Great in this case meaning “large” or “profound,” not “happy.”
Second alignment: Mercury-Sol-Mars: “Tidings of War.” This doesn’t have the auspicious aspect of last week, but is not necessarily bad. It has a tangential relationship to the ending mentioned above.
Third alignment: Jupiter-Mercury-Terra: “News of Home.” Good for expats and homebodies. Also big changes at the TSA.
Luna in Libra. Change and stability. A generally unpleasant sign when things at cross-purposes are forced together. Hangovers will be bad.
Jupiter and Mercury in Sagittarius. Changes in firearms law.
Mars in Pisces. Bad luck involving fish. Be particularly vigilant in maintaining your aquaria.
The Sun joins Saturn in Capricorn. For those of us not born under the sign of the sea-goat, we will experience Gold and Lead. Problems will be particularly intractable. Expect defiance, and for subtle tactics to fail. Your enemies will have more resources than usual.
Sorry for the downer forecast. PLEASE don’t pass out around people who will draw dicks on your face or steal your wallet, car keys, etc. If you’re hosting a party and a friend-of-a-friend shows up, make sure they leave at the end of the night and lock the door behind them.
One of the few benefits of the pain-in-the-ass called “relocation” is the occasional discovery of something one possesses but had forgotten. In my case, it was one of my favorite books from my childhood, covers missing, pages yellowed and tattered, thumbed through to nearly the point of collapse, but still readable and delightful. Curtis MacDougall‘s Hoaxes is a classic, ranking with Mackay’s Extraordinary Popular Delusions and Randi’s Flim-Flam in the category of “books to help you develop a healthy cynicism.” Put aside MacDougall’s idiot politics, the guy could write and do real research.
SugarFree
The menu that Cracker Barrel Typhoid Mary handed me. Ugh.
My reading once again, has been limited by what I read my four year old.
This month’s entry is Shel Silverstein’s classic, The Giving Tree. It is a touching story on the surface, but upon closer examination is a cautionary tale about the moral hazard of the welfare state. The story begins with a boy playing with a tree but inevitably, time plays its terrible curse upon the boy and the tree. The boy grows and no longer has interest in the tree. The tree notices the boy coming by less often, but when he does, she finds the boy is missing something. The boy first has no money, but the tree offers the boy her apples. Now this is act of pure kindness on the tree’s part, and also an important lesson missed by the boy. The apples you see, were meant to be sold in the market for a profit so the boy was able to have spending money. Given the utter lack of overhead costs incurred by the boy, any apple sold was sold for a profit. The boy then makes the mistake of spending all his money foolishly.
His mismanagement of the tree’s gift is evident because the next time the boy comes to the tree for help, he is in need of a house. Perhaps he knocked up some girl and needed a house. Who knows? Ultimately, if he had been a better steward of the tree’s gift of her apples, he would have used the profits from the apple sales, and applied those towards the startup for another, more profitable venture. At the very least, the profits could have been used towards a down payment on a house. Given he had no money tells me it was spent on women and booze, because he now had a family and was once again asking the tree for help. She offers her branches to build a home, and probably a shabby one at that. Apple trees aren’t exactly known for their high strength wood, unless this was some kind of magic tree.
Clearly, the boy made a mistake in who he married, because the next time he comes to the tree for help he wants to get away and have an adventure. Between his debts and his dilapidated home, I would want to get away from everything too. The tree once again offers the boy help by allowing him to chop down her trunk, and use it to make a boat. Boats are nothing more than a hole in the water filled with money if you ask me. The tree apparently was happy, but not really.
Behold! The Welfare King upon his throne.
The story concludes with the boy comeing back to the tree as an old man. Surly, broken down—he can’t even chew on apples anymore out of disgust for his poor decision making. The tree inevitably offers the only thing left she can as a stump, and offers the boy a place to sit his lazy ass down.
The lesson here is the moral hazard of the welfare state. The tree gives selflessly, and the boy takes advantage of her generosity by stealing everything she is worth—even in death. A better course of action would have been to give the boy the apples as a loan. How do you pay back a loan to a tree? I don’t know, maybe the tree could’ve loaned the apples with the stipulation the boy plant a dozen of those apples somewhere. Something, anything really to instill upon the boy the apples he is selling to spend on hookers and booze was not his to begin with. The smartest course of action, being that he could clearly sell apples, is to plant more trees. Then the tree wouldn’t be so damn lonely for one, being surrouded by other trees, but the boy would have a larger supply of apples to bring to market. Perhaps even plant a few more trees, and entire orchard of trees, and become de facto king of the magical apple tree forest. That never occurred to the creepy bearded, bare-footed Silversteen. Obviously, because he wanted you to believe it was better to give everything to everyone, especially the undeserving.
Ayn Rand would’ve had an epic, 96 page field day with this.
jesse.in.mb
Coming off a rough few months and finally getting a chance to do some reading. I finally finished the Lies of Locke Lamorra which I mentioned a quarter ago. It got better after where I was at before, but I’m not sure I’m going to pick up the next book in the series. There were open questions, but the tale itself comes to a satisfying close.
Jeff Wheeler’s Storm Glass is another first book in a series. I *might* pick up the next one. The blurb made it sound like an impressively hamfisted parable for modern socioeconomic disparities set in a roughly steampunk (English, not wild-west) setting, but it was more enjoyable than the blurb made it sound.
The Shadow & Bone trilogy (also apparently called the Grisha trilogy) is again a vaguely steampunk set of novels reminiscent of The Legend of Kora. The setting is overtly Russian and at about the end of the tsarist era, but in this universe some people are born to manipulate aspects of the world around them and some people are just fodder for the constant wars at play. There were a few points in the series where the story faltered, but the cadence kept me reading and I put down 2.5 of the books in a day-and-a-half.
Currently reading Roadside Picnic, but I’m barely through the foreward so it’ll have to wait until next time.
SP
I have been reading self-help and how-to books this month.
”How to Relocate AGAIN and Stay Married”
”Creative Arson: When You REALLY Can’t Pack One More Box”
”Toss It! (Grandma’s dead, she’ll never know you gave her ‘heirlooms’ away)”
“How to Get Moving Quotes Without Talking to Humans”
“Nobody Needs 23 Kinds of Wine: Throwing Packing Parties to Reduce Your Cellar”
”Do the Math, Or Is it Cheaper to Replace All Your Household Goods Than Move Them?”
“Ikea is Everywhere: Why Move Your Furniture?”
Brett L
I read to unwind, and after a hell of a month of November, I dove into a whole crapload of books this month. Not all of them great, but several pretty quality reads.
I started with Gears of the City by Felix Gilman. I’ve had a pretty serious literary crush on Felix since reading The Half-Made World. Gears is a sequel to his 2007 book Thunderer. in the first book, a man named Arjun came to The City looking for his God, who had left Arjun’s monastery quiet and empty. The City contains hundreds of gods, and Arjun gets tangled up with two in particular, one a god of rot, water, and death; the other a god of flight, wind, and freedom. Many hijinks ensue and we leave the first book with Arjun going to The Mountain to look for his god. But the The City and The Mountain are mystical places, not really fixed or Euclidean in space or time. The second book picks up with Arjun having been spat out by The Mountain with a hazy set of memories. Short version is, the first book is great, the second one’s reach exceeds its grasp. I really wanted to love it, but it tied up too many things too neatly. Still loads of great characters and imaginative encounters, just not as sexy.
After that came something lighter — the 4th installment of Drew Hayes’s NPC series (officially Spells, Swords, & Stealth series according to Amazon, but the first one was NPCs). Anyhow, this is I guess, LitRPG genre? There are two interwoven stories in the series. One is that the characters in the DnD-style game are actually in existence somewhere and controlled by people in our plane. The other is a group of NPCs who form a party to save their little town. I think its a fun series. Has some original twists and turns. Hayes does a good job between just shrugging his shoulders at some things (adventurers take stupid risks. its what they do.) and really nice world building on the other. Some of the characters include a gnome paladin of the god of minions, a half-orc wizard, and a former player-controlled character who should have died on a natural 1 roll but instead became an NPC.
I also read the first two books of the Books of Babel series, Senlin Ascends and Arm of the Sphinx. The first book was wonderful steampunk. The second was not as original or lyrical, but moved the story along. A slightly older schoolmaster named Senlin takes his new bride to the Tower of Babel for a honeymoon (think steampunk technology, trains, some electricity, lots of steam engines) and immediately gets separated in the crowd. Thereafter begins his quest to reunite with his wife, in which he discovers that his morality is fluid, and he will do whatever it takes to get back to her. The second book takes Senlin to the mysterious Sphinx who seems to run and repair all of the automation for the tower. Senlin makes a deal to get closer to finding his wife.
I also read a short story from Mark Lawrence in the Nona Grey universe called Bound. Lawrence continues to be one of my favorite writers, but $3 for 16k words is at the edge of my price range for anybody. Only read it if you are caught up on the Jorg/Red Queen and Nona Grey books and are waiting impatiently for the next book to drop.
Finally, I started the Expanse books by James SA Corey. I don’t know why I hadn’t read them before, since space opera is absolutely my jam, but I had not. Nor have I watched any of the series on Syfy/Amazon. I really feel cheated that I haven’t been reading this all along. Although given the sheer number of novels and novellas in the series, it would be great if someone could tell me when to pull the ripcord so I don’t become bitter and disillusioned.
‘Twas the night before Glib-Mas, and, purged of endorphins, Not a creature was stirring – not even the orphans. Booby traps and alarms were set, in fear That old rapist STEVE SMITH might decide to appear.
The Glib Ones were nestled, each snug in their bunk, Each Glib Girl and Anarchist, and reg’lar old punk. Both I and my mistress, who looked really super, Were succumbing to an alcoholic stupor.
When, all of a sudden, ere I could rebuke, Our Glib-house was hit with the force of a nuke! (I exaggerate, of course, but still, I was shook up And upset at the interruption of my hook-up.)
I ran to the window and threw open the pane. Dark clouds had gathered, the moonlight did wane – And above the night wind’s blistering howl, I heard a voice; no, it was more of a growl:
“ALL OF YOU TROLLS, BE READY FOR TAKEOFF! STEVE SMITH GO IN HERE, THEN WE WILL MAKE OFF WITH THEIR GIFTS AND PRESENTS AND CHRISTMAS BOOTY – ALL TROLL FLIGHT CREWS ATTEND TO YOUR DUTY!”
I cowered in fear, for from childhood I knew Of the legend of STEVE SMITH and his murderous crew – Eight ugly trolls pulled his magical sled; The very sight of them filled grown men with dread.
I stood frozen in fear, stuck right to the floor And heard massive footprints approaching my door; Then, at the last moment, dived back of a chair – My door was kicked open, and then, standing there
Was STEVE SMITH, in all of his horrible glory, His dank body hair matted and gory. He possessed two incredibly bloodshot eyes; Oh, and a phallus of enormous size.
The creature turned and gave me a wink, And just as I was beginning to think That I was a goner, now it appeared Perhaps things would not be quite as I feared.
Instead, he turned his attention to see All of the Glib-gifts under the tree. Then it hit me like a clap of thunder – His purpose and intention to plunder!
All the things we had bought, he stuffed into a sack, Our unopened presents, he proceeded to pack. All of the firearms, sex toys, and lube, Our home-brew kits, our blow-up dolls – hey, rube!
This was our whole holiday he was stealing, But as I stood there, I had the feeling That if I tried to stop him, he’d pound me, I knew Into a greasy little pile of goo.
So while I stood cowering, tame as a mouse, The creature went all about the house Taking all that he wanted; why, he even took Every Ayn Rand and Hayek and Mises book.
When he was finally done, he heaved a great sigh, And again fixed me with a bloodshot eye. Though the beast seemed to be in a jovial mood I had only one thought: Holy crap, I am screwed.
But as I stood there trembling, my mouth agape, The monster assured me: “DON’T WORRY, NO RAPE – STEVE SMITH EXHAUSTED AFTER LONG NIGHT OF THEFT. ALMOST FEEL SORRY, YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT.
BUT REMEMBER THIS: GLIB-MAS NOT ABOUT EARTHLY THINGS BUT FREEDOM AND ALL THE JOY THAT IT BRINGS.” With that he stepped out, with his large pack fumbling, To his sled and his slave-trolls all a-grumbling.
Within moments the over-burdened sleigh Rose into the sky, and then away – Leaving only a horrible stink. “No one will believe this,” I started to think.
I was up the rest of the night explaining; I really don’t think I deserved the caning. Ah, well. As STEVE SMITH said, as he vanished from sight, “MERRY GLIB-MAS TO ALL! AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!”
Such good news this week! I’ve mentioned before that most astrological signs are portents of disaster, but this week is extraordinary in that is has three (count ’em!) good signs, and rather fantastically good signs at that.
Sol-Terra-Luna: The Son of Man on his throne with the sun in his right hand and the moon in his left. All things are as they should be.
Sol-Mercury-Mars: Good news for fighting folk. Note that this is tied to the earlier alignment through the Sun (life). This is pretty much exactly what you want to see if you have a loved one warring.
Venus-Mercury-Jupiter: Good tidings of great joy. This relates to the above through Mercury, so there will not only be good news of those mentioned above, but for them as well. I wonder if it means we’ll hear from Derpetologist. It could be, the stars did predict the return of IFH after all.
Another use of proven technology to communicate
For the rest of the horioscope:
This week, the sun enters Capricorn. Expect feasting.
New moon in Cancer: Secrets and new gains. Growth, both desired and less so.
Jupiter and Mercury in Sagittarius. Predictions come true. Wish not ill upon others.
Mars in Pisces: Red and Green. A major event involving red and green will come to pass this week.
For those of you who say I “never” mention your sign a) you’re wrong and b) here’s why you might perceive that:
There are seven celestial bodies and twelve signs. This is already a problem. However, three of those seven are linked and are always close together. Venus is never more than two signs from the sun (it’s the morning or evening star, never the midnight star) and Mercury is never more than one sign away. So for eleven months out of the year, you can’t get the sun, nine you can’t get Mercury, and seven you can’t even have Venus (which really kind of sucks, seeing as how she give a buff to your chances to getting laid). If it’s not that slice of the year when you can get those three, you’ll have to rely on the outer planets which move very slowly because they are fat.
This week sees a continuation of the Saturn-Venus-Sol alignment (see last week’s horoscope for interpretation details) but this week it intersects (through Venus) with another (angularly irrelevant) alignment of Venus-Terra-Luna. Like Venus, the Moon is a powerful feminine sign. The Earth represents home. So you have two women living together in a loving relationship. Which reminds me that IFH hasn’t been on in a long time and this week is really lucky for a particular demographic that is conspicuously absent here.
That’s it. That’s all the alignments this week.
The new visitations aren’t terribly good, unfortunately. The moon in Aries brings missteps and inappropriate irritability. Be careful not to overreact to provocations.
Mars in Pisces adds to the irritation, supra.
Triple conjunction in Sagittarius — Sol, Mercury, Jupiter. This is the gambler’s fortune. I’m… not certain how to apply it to the Glibertariat as a whole. For an individual client, it would signify victory in a game, but so many of you back opposing teams that doesn’t seem to make any sense.
Venus in Scorpio. We mentioned that last week. Oh, and about Scorpio ruling the fin bits? Here’s a diagram of the body and how the zodiac relates:
You should see some of the medieval ones. I know that dissection and therefore human anatomy was forbidden, but Jesus guys THE HEART IS NOT AT THE WAISTLINE
Since there are a few Glibs here trying to learn another language I thought I’d share my experience. In my case I’m studying Japanese but will structure my experience here into what has worked well for me generally. If there is interest, in a follow-up post I’ll discuss what worked and didn’t work for me specifically learning Japanese.
Get Motivated
First and foremost, you are going to need something to keep you motivated. If you have no compelling interest in the language or a desire to use it, you are going to find it very difficult to study and retain much as an adult. When you are younger, for example in high school and college, your ability to learn is much better than when you are older.
My interest in Japanese was twofold, first I’d always been curious about the country and the culture and second, I’d been told it was a very difficult language for an English speaker to learn. I can confirm the second part, but I turned it into a source of motivation. I wasn’t going to let its difficult nature beat me. However, honestly, looking back I’m not sure I’d do it again. I’ve no intention of moving to Japan and no professional need for it. It was simply something I chose do as an intellectual stretch. I wanted to learn something that was in no way related to my career which is heavy on math, finance. However, I have made some wonderful friends as a result of my studies which was truly unexpected.
Find a Schedule
I have the misfortune to spend over an hour a half every weekday commuting by train to Manhattan. Rather than spend this time simply surfing on the phone, with the exception of glibertarians.com of course, I put this uninterrupted time into studying. This equates to about seven hours or so each week of “found” study time.
Find a Class or a Partner or Even Better Both
There is plenty to be gained by self-study, but I’m astounded by the amount of people on the internet who want to learn a language only through self-study. It’s a language – the whole point is communication. For somebody learning Japanese he or she may only want to watch anime or read manga and feels self-study is perfectly appropriate. I think you’re setting yourself up for a huge case of disappointment. An instructor, preferably with native fluency, is an invaluable resource to help you understand a language. While you can’t beat a physical class to fully understand nuance, thanks to the internet there are many, many live language classes that are available online through things like Skype. Personally, I have a formal class for two hours once a week after work.
I also do a language exchange with three partners in Japan. One of my partners is email only while the other two are Skype calls of one hour each week. We do roughly half the call in Japanese and the other half in English. They help me with my Japanese and I help them learn English. I won’t lie and say that as a relatively introverted person that this was particularly easy to do. The first six months or so getting to know everyone was really a struggle, however they have become true friends. They are also an invaluable resource. I can email them to ask them questions and unlike my teacher at my formal class they are friends. I can ask them about colloquial usage and impolite words and phrases that my instructor won’t or doesn’t want to discuss.
YouTube, (Niconico), Movies and TV
I can’t imagine what it was like trying to learn a language and find content before all the various video sites. I’m very much of an auditory learner so watching YouTube is a terrific way for me to learn. I’m fortunate that Japan is a karaoke culture so lots of music has the lyrics available. The music itself also helps me remember vocabulary. However, like English music, Japanese lyrics aren’t necessarily grammatical. I also watch plenty of news and talk shows in Japanese simply to try to follow the conversations.
Naturally I watch movies, TV and anime as well. Here you must be careful. Specific to Japanese there are various levels of politeness and the spoken language has gender differences. So, unless you want to sound like a female samurai you need to understand the context of what you are watching and not simply repeat things you hear in videos.
Be Wary of Shortcuts
I can’t count the number of web site devoted to learning Japanese in short time periods or various “hacks” for learning Japanese. If learning another language was really that easy don’t you think we’d all be learning another two or three? I suppose if you are a fluent Spanish speaker learning Portuguese you have a shot a fluency in six months. For the rest of us I’d suggest that it’s going to be a matter of putting in the time. And, from my experience, if you’re over 40 be prepared for lots of it. Younger students in my Japanese class kick my ass. Yes, I’ve picked up many learning shortcuts over the years, but you can’t beat the younger brain for learning new things.
My Thanksgiving visit to Texas went exactly as the stars said it would: Venus in Libra ensured happiness and tranquility with my family and friends, and MERCURY RETROGRADE forewarned me that the flights would be a shitshow of cancellations, reschedulings, and lost luggage. Also, I don’t know what the astrological sign of tacos is, but there’s a taqueria right off of 290 in Giddings that is just the platonic ideal of what a taco shop should be.
Speaking of MERCURY RETROGRADE, it’s quite busy being a bastard this week. First of all, it’s hanging out in Scorpio indicating sexual dysfunction. Second of all, it’s part of an alignment with Venus also indicating problems with your love life. However, that alignment intersects with another one through the sun of Sol-Jupiter-Terra. Now this leg is a good sign, indicating that things are going really well in one’s home life. So maybe… you get hammered and approached by a hottie, but you will be too drunk to fuck and this saves your marriage? Your pool boy suffers a groin injury and suddenly your partner pays more attention to you? Honestly, I’m having trouble with some of these interpretations. MERCURY RETROGRADE is causing all sorts of inexplicable self-contradictory problems at work and the insomnia been acting up as a result. Since the sun is the intersection of these two alignments, the end result should generally be good. So under the horses-not-zebras principle, this pair of alignments probably means that there will be an incident of coitus interruptus, but one which will result in a good story that winds up making you closer to the party with whom you were interruptus-ed.
Not much time to get the horoscope cast, as I’ll be making the trip from NY to TX for Thanksgiving so who knows how long that will take. Plus what with visiting family and friends my connectivity will be spotty at best. Not that it matters, as I’m sure you will all be too full of food, consumerism, and football to care. But here goes:this week:
MERCURY RETROGRADE continues. In fact it’s in alignment with Terra and Luna. So, the “Home” sign is aligned with two “Chaos” signs. Gee, I wonder why?
Also this week, and also aligned with Terra: Sol and Jupiter. So “Home” aligned with “Happiness” and “Tradition.” Seriously, some weeks this job is just too fucking easy.
In less completely obvious signs, we have Luna in Gemini. Very good news for imagination, even to the point of psychosis. Writers will come up with good (or at least interesting) ideas. Spats between friends, but nothing that will end a relationship.
Mars remains in Pisces. Conflict over food (really?), offense wins out over defense.
Saturn remains in Capricorn because fuck you that’s why.
Venus remains in Libra. Excellent omens for your love life. Mutual satisfaction all around. Sex workers reap a bounty.
Sagittarius goes bonkers hosting Jupiter, the Sun, and MERCURY RETROGRADE. Money will be lost betting on sports, expect unexpected upsets. Illegal hunting is strongly contraindicated. Stay off the archery range.
Unlike last week, this week’s skies don’t require advanced PowerPoint technology to decipher. Which isn’t to say that things are boring, oh no. First, Venus has resumed direct motion so any conjugal issues you may have been having should be resolved. Second, we are once again entering a period of MERCURY RETROGRADE, so rejoice in your ability to eschew responsibility for the fuckups that you cause.
That MERCURY RETROGRADE does come with a cost. It’s part of an extremely bad alignment with Saturn and the Earth, which is usually Very Bad News, on par with the death of a dog or a roof collapse. However, there are some things working against it which are probably shielding the house proper and those who dwell within it. Instead, expect some sort of disaster to befall the extended property. Wildfire if you’re a land owner, boiler loss if you’re an apartment dweller, that sort of thing.
MERCURY RETROGRADE is also in a second alignment with the Sun and Mars, but because of the relative angles of the alignments, these are independent issues not related ones (this week actually has two of these out-of-phase intersections which is rather unusual). I think you can all figure this one out on your own: Mars = war, MERCURY RETROGRADE = very bad news/chaos. This is not a good week to be involved in hostilities.
Like the previous two, this is an independent event alignment. Unlike the previous two, it is good news. It’s actually one of the best signs re: domestic bliss, the alignment of Sol-Jupiter-Venus. As I mentioned before, Venus is back to being the harbinger of love and peace and Jupiter is stability, harmony, righteous rule and happiness. The sun is light/life/empowerment. So you’ve got that going for you.
This week, Pisces plays host to the moon and to Mars. It’s an auspicious week for spearfishing and video games of the FPS and brawler type. Also good for people trying to evade manhunts, but bad for the mustered soldiery. The rest of us will find things a bit muted or mellow, if you prefer.
This week, hunting accidents will increase as MERCURY RETROGRADE brings its chaos to Sagittarius. However, since Jupiter is also there as a moderating influences, these accidents will be less lethal and more of a “have a good story to tell” variety. Still, be particularly careful with gun safety this week. Speaking of gun safety, remember how the stars told me that NYS would finally deign to recognize my right to keep (and bear in a tremendously limited sense) a 1967 Ruger Standard? It of course came to pass. I believe it was last fired in 1984. I watched many Youtube videos on the takedown and reassembly, but none of them mentioned that a mallet would be required for the procedure. It was. By the time this gets published I will have taken it to the range and given it some test bangs. Since it will be happening before MERCURY RETROGRADE kicks in, I’m not too worried about the thing exploding in a way it’s not supposed to.
Saturn in Capricorn means that Saturn is very far away and its relative motion through the zodiac had more to do with our annual orbit and not its fat ass.
So many times, the sky is empty. The planets scattered, filling the silent halls with mumbling irrelevancies.
This week is not one of those weeks.
This week’s chart could be used as a final examination in a mid-level class on data analysis, should The Royal Science ever regain its place in the halls of academia. Which it really should. What with the push to “decolonize” the sciences, there’s probably a future in teaching astrology as an epistemology of color. I’d need to apply for the professorship in sandface of course, but it should be fairly easy to tar anyone who insisted that I was a Norway Brown as a “cisracist.” I should probably get some publications under my belt; anyone got the contact information for the Sokal Squared people?
To do this chart correctly, I should send the files to the plotter, reserve one of the larger conference rooms and “borrow” one of the straightedges from the AMHS people. However, this year’s performance management reviews haven’t been completed, so I won’t do that. Here’s what you get with a ruler and an eyeball:
The anchor of this whole thing is the alignment of Terra-Luna-Saturn; “Great Ending” (great as in ‘big,’ not as in ‘nifty.’ ) There’s a related-but-not-really influence there from Mercury (news, tidings, impetus) that might officially be pushing on the trio through the Earth, but in actuality is more like a “dotted line” boss who is stationed in a different office. Where Mercury does come into play is that drawing a line through Mercury and Saturn (the signs of beginning and endings, respectively) that line also intersects Venus(retrograde). This yields “Love Turns to Hate” but in really big Gothic lettering maybe with some teenaged notebook art from a Neil Gaiman fangirl decorating it.
Something like this
Now modifying all of that is another linked alignment indicating relationship troubles (Venus(retrograde)-Mars-Luna) just in case the lettering wasn’t enough. Think of it as a sidereal blink tag, if you will. And, and ANNNNDDD there is yet another linked alignment of Venus(retrograde)-Jupiter-Sol that I usually have most success translating as “makeup sex,” but what the manual will tell you means “unexpected pregnancy.”
Got all that? Maybe this would help.
Gray lines are links through Saturn, Red through Venus(retrograde) and blue through the Moon
Now for further clarification on this situation, three of the planets involved in this (including two of the linking ones) are all conjoined in Sagittarius. The Archer is one of the two signs having major associations with the penis (the other being The Bull, natch’) So you can go back through all the stellar relationships and every time you see “Jupiter,” “Mercury,” or “The Moon,” you can substitute in “Penis.” Why is there relationship trouble? Because Venus(retrograde), Mars, and Penis.
Scorpio still holds the Sun, but all the other planets (and most of the readers) are bored with it.
Libra is still holding Venus(retrograde) in check. Libra really doesn’t get enough appreciation.
Sagittarius is where all the fun is at this week: Mercury, Luna and Jupiter means triple good luck to anyone engaging in precision work, riding/driving vehicles and/or searching for boytaur porn.
